Dog biting

[Looseitch]

Hi there,

I have an 8 yr old shih tzu and lately we've been having a problem with her trying to bite when we go to move her. Maybe about a year or two ago she started snarling and growling if someone went to move her from a spot she was comfortable in, which I guess is ok if it was her own bed, but it's the sofa, the arm chair, the bed, etc. Recently it's escalated to trying to bite. She's never tried it with me, but with my parents. I don't know why she doesn't do it to me, but I suspect it's because I never backed off when she snarled at me while my parents did. We have 2 dogs and the schnauzer's never had a problem with this. Any suggestions how to fix this behavior? She's also pretty difficult to train.

Thanks!

[Longblades]

I think the first thing is to have her checked by your Vet to see if it hurts her somewhere when you move her.

[Barkingdog]

I was thinking this too Longblades , the dog could be getting arthritis and doesn't want to move. But the dog shouldn't be allow to bark at people .

[Winston]

Your dog is biting for a reason especially if this is not a common occurance. I would suspect some form of pain. Perhaps considering age she may be arthritic but honestly its so hard to say without a medical check up. I can think of a whole lot of things that would make a dog groutchy.

As for you perhaps its because you are the leader..They dont tend to do that to those they respect if that makes sense. They will if its fear biting etc but it sounds like she doesnt like being disturbed.

I would then look at each scenario and see if there is anything that is common about it.

For example what if she was loosing her hearing and someone approached from behind to startle her...dogs learn sounds and maybe she is used to how you sound when you walk but others not so much..

Sounds crazy I know but hey you just never know...keep us posted please would be curious if you get some resolve..